Big creature question

[Riley]

Sorry, I haven't played Magic in quite some time and I have several simple questions I will be asking over the next few weeks!

I'm an extremely casual player and if you want to critisize me for the questions I ask, you're more than welcome.

I'm building a type II deck now that i've gotten back into Magic for the time being, and i'm looking for a large creature. I know a few, Darksteel Col. etc etc.... but if you could inform me of some good options that are either red, or artifact, it would be much appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[Oversoul]

I'm don't play Standard at all and don't know the newer sets very well, but what sort of big creature did you have in mind. You mentioned Darksteel Colossus. Are we talking about 11/11's and stuff, or does a 5/5 count as big?

 

[Rooser]

I assume by "big" you just mean "big enough to act as an effective kill condition."

1. Arc-Slogger is some tech, and none too expensive to buy either. If you're scared off by his "remove ten cards from your library" ability then you don't know how to play Magic. Cards that you haven't drawn yet are of no value to you anyway, so his ability is some turbo sauce.

2. Good ol' Shivan Dragon is still in Type II, so you could go with him.

3. Ryusei, The Falling Star is a pretty good dragon too.

4. Kumano, Master Yamabushi is also very good.

BONUS: He's not "big" per se, but he does act as an effective kill condition anyway - Furnace Whelp.

BONUS 2: And if you're into creatures with interesting drawbacks, Vulshok War Boar is very playable too.

BONUS 3: And if you like creatures with ridiculously unplayable drawbacks, Cosmic Larva is certainly worth looking at.

You may also like a little dude named Slith Firewalker - he's the biggest little guy in town right now.

Anyway, that's red.

For artifacts I assume you want creatures that your red-heavy deck can play. Myr Enfocer, for example, is an awesome artifact fatty .... in the right deck.

Anyway, you'd probably like Oxidda Golem, but he's not super big.

Darksteel Collossus like you said - but good luck feasibly casting an 11-cost spell there.

Clockwork Dragon is a fun one for Timmies.

Depending on your deck you might like Grid Monitor.

 

[Riley]

Sorry for not specifiying what 'big' meant. As Rooser said, i'm looking for a kill condition.

Thanks for all the options, i've looked over them all this morning and I've been leaning towards Arc-Slogger.

1) Would Arc-Slogger be dangerous in MP, or would decking out not be a concern if I was conservative with my use of his direct damage?

For the time being i'm going to try to work with Arc-Sloggers, it fits in well with the theme of my deck anyways.

Another question which would be helpful to know:

2) When working with Legendary cards, such as: Kumano, Master Yamabushi. How many of them would you reccomend putting in an average deck? Four seems to be excessive to me (but i'm a little on the ignorant side) or is there no recomended number, and it's simply based on what kind of build you have?

Thanks

 

[Rooser]

Well you said competetive Type 2, so that's why I suggested Arc-Slogger. In multiplayer I don't think he'd be that great. If you want a similar effect in multiplayer I suggest going with Kumano.

As for how many of them to play, I think it depends on the legend and depends on the deck. Obviously the legendary status is a drawback that encourages you to paly with fewer copies of the card, but some of the new legends, like Horobi, Death's Wail, are easy to kill, cheap to play, and are best when they come out fast so you might as well go with the full package. In the case of Kumano, I'd say you should top out at 3. If your deck is more reactionary and is designed to stall out and gain control of the board, then going down to even 2 copies is acceptable. However, since he's relatively cheap he can come out early enough that you will want to have drawn him by then, so I say 3.

 

[Riley]

I'm still hesitant to use Kumano, mostly because I haven't had much experience playing with Legends. I do like how they incorporated so many legends into Kamigawa, I suppose i'm just not very experienced in that field of play. Just becomes confuseing to me, i'm still stuck in the mindset that I want to have four of each card in my deck (stuck this way entirely out of habit)

You are right, Kumano is more effective in MP, but it still dosen't quite have the same punch as Arc-Slogger (even despite his drawbacks!) Probably 2 Kumanos in the MP deck, use some Volshock Sorc and other direct damage to stall into late game, pull out the bigger guns then I see how it all works out.

Another option; Useing Volshock Sorcs and Granit shards with War Elemental. Hopefully the War Eles would make it high enough to be effective lategame, of course it woulden't have the same effect as Arc-Slogger or Kumano, but it's a little faster than each of them.

Thanks

 

[Oversoul]

If you are hesitant to use legendary creatures, try two copies of the creature in question. That's a pretty safe way to avoid dead draws. And then later if you decide that three copies would be worth it, well, you know...

 

[orgg]

Two is a good number of any one legend with a casting cost of four or more... unless you MUST draw that legend very reliably, then moving to three might work.

Of course, if you're stuck in the 4-of mindset, go for Two Master Yambushicores (or whatever his name is...) and two Shivan Dragons as a four-set. That should work well, and the Shivan is quite a bit better as a finisher than an Arc Slogger.

 

[Mikeymike]

Don't be afraid of big legends, since they have a tendency to run into the same issue as big creatures anyway. I'll explain.

You rarely want to make your deck extremely top-heavy, because you'll often be stuck with a bunch of cards in hand that you can't afford to cast early/mid-way through the game. Keeping your quantities low for a particular creature allows you to put in more variety in your creature selection, play with Legends, and still be able to manage the high-spectrum casting cost of your deck.

Kumano is excellent, by the way. His ability to pick off multiple small creatures AND remove them from the game is a fantastic ability in MP. You need creatures which can help generate card advantage (which he can), and his secondary 'remove from game' effect will often play into the course of a game (since the chances of one of your opponents playing graveyard recursion are pretty high).

In MP, Two-Headed Dragon is excellent due to his ability to block multiples and become huge. Also, and creatures with Vigilance (don't tap to attack) are also very good. Akroma, Serra Angel, Tahngarth, and more.

Secondly, I'd consider a way to 'help' get your creatures out in play faster. Cards that will help in this department are:
Defense of the Heart
Quicksilver Amulet
Urza's Incubator
Summoner's Egg
Mirari's Wake
Volrath's Shapeshifter (it can do fun things)
Many, many more.

Hope this helps!

 

[Reverend Love]

Go with the classic Multiplayer Staples.

Multani, Maro Scorcer
Maro
Visara, the Dreadful
Akroma, Angel of Wrath
Forgotten Ancient <--Get's big quick

Use tricks, or acceleration to get'm out early. Peruse the deck forum for ideas.

Trust in fatties.

 

[Oversoul]

Juggernaut is pretty efficient...

 

[Ferret]

An observation I've mad from watching some MTG:O games is that lots of players seem to love to have decks w/ just a few really huge creatures. I guess those could work, but if your defense is good enough you can soak it up. I've always preferred the idea of using a bunch of mana-producing weenies to bring out a horde of medium sized beefy critters. It can usually overwhelm those giant decks and even force them to keep their giants back on defense.

-Ferret

"You have nothing to fear, but my scarry wurms!"

 

[Oversoul]

Oath!

 

[Rooser]

Okay, guys, he very specifically asked for Type 2 RED cards.

Obviously Multani is an MP beatstick. Obviously he's green and not in Type 2.

@Riley - Here'sa trick that Might work REALLY good in MP. Play with Arc-Sloggers and Beacon of Destruction. Make sure you have a Beacon of Destruction or two in your hand before you drop the Arc-Slogger, then use the Arc-Slogger to get rid of most your deck, and then you can just play the Beacons over and over and over.

 

[Doombringer]

sundering titan is a ?/10 with a land destruction ability, it can do good damage and make it hard to find an answer for it.

 

[Ferret]

oops! Sorry...in that case, I'll always put my money on Red's greatest beefy critter: Shivan Dragon. Nothing beats a classic: 5/5 firebreathing Flyer for only SIX MANA - w/ no drawbacks. Beat that.

-Ferret

"Proud owner of five of them; none newer than Fifth Ed"

 

[Oversoul]

Originally posted by Doombringer
sundering titan is a ?/10 with a land destruction ability, it can do good damage and make it hard to find an answer for it.

7/10.

Shivan Dragon may be old school, but Covetous Dragon only asks to eat a few artifacts while he eats your enemies.

 

[train]

I have to second the sundering titan idea... mean... real mean... but don't discount bosh...